User blog:Dad Bane/Minecraft Summer Writing Contest Entry
Prompt The cool summer breeze blew along the shore of the miniscule island as leisurely as if it had vast wings and was casually sailing up into the brilliant blue sky, through the clouds, and beyond. The inhabitants of the island were not any more somber than the wind, for they were laughing and playing and dancing along the golden sandy sunlit shore. They had not a slightest care in the world, including the band of block-headed friends who were strolling along the oceanfront. Of course, in Minecraft, block-headed is quite a compliment. The blockier the better, as the village minister put it. Suddenly, there came a resounding noise from the far side of beach, and a crowd of very startled villagers hurriedly accumulated around the supposed source. They fell completely silent and motionless in an instant, as if they had been magically frozen by a snow wizard that had descended from the clouds. The friends pushed their way through the utterly speechless villagers, where they discovered the cause of the standstill. Story A small ship, about the size of a charter boat, sat half on the beach and half in water. It leaned on nearly a 45 degree angle to the starboard side, away from the onlookers and up against some exposed granite it had collided with. There was no indication of anyone being aboard, but the view of the deck was limited due to the position the ship had run aground in. Blaster Niceshot climbed up the rock wall to investigate, followed by Mommy Wan and Dad Bane. The villagers maintained their rapt attention from the beach, and their silence turned into a low rumble as they speculated how the ship came to be there. From atop the granite Blaster could see several figures strewn about the deck, as if they had been tossed there haphazardly. They were gradually trying to get to their feet, which was difficult given the slant of the floor. At last a big burly fellow stood up, braced himself against the railing and waved hurriedly to the three friends. “Can you help us?” called the big man with a pleading tone. “I’ll throw you a rope” replied Blaster. “Lay the gangplank between the ship and the rocks, and climb up here”. A second man, shorter and skinnier than the first, tried to assist with the gangplank but lost his footing and tumbled backwards before flipping over the stern and into the water. “Skipper, help, Skipper, help” yelled the second man. Mommy Wan climbed down the rocks and jumped into a rowboat perched at water’s edge. She quickly made her way over to the bobbing man. “Right click on the boat!” she exclaimed. The skinny man did so and was instantly out of the water. Meanwhile another man in a white shirt helped the big man position the gangplank. Blaster removed a rope from his dock and threw it over to them. One by one the shipwrecked visitors made their way onto the rocks, Blaster and Dad Bane holding the rope for them. First a woman in expensive clothing came across, followed by a well-dressed man who called her “Lovey”. A glamourous looking woman who kept chanting “Wait until my agent hears about this!” had difficulty because she was wearing high heels, but finally made it. The man in the white shirt was next, and he remarked on the molecular properties of the rope as he traversed the gangplank. Lastly, a woman who smelled like coconut cream pie came across. Once they were all off the ship Blaster advised them to “Follow me, as it’s getting dark and soon evil things will be roaming about”. They made their way to a nearby house in the village as the sun was nearly below the horizon. After a meal of mushroom stew, the big man called Skipper explained what had happened to them. “I’m the captain of the SS Minnow, and the fellow who landed in the water is my First Mate Gilligan. We were taking these folks on a three hour boat tour when a giant squid picked up the ship and hurled it at the rocks. Luckily none of us were killed.” The glamourous woman chimed in “I’m a movie star and I need to get back to Hollywood. Do you have a radio so we can call someone to get off the island?” Mommy Wan replied, “We don’t have one, but one of the villagers might. You will have to trade with one of them to get it”. The next day the shipwrecked travelers located a villager in a white robe who offered to trade them a radio for a coconut cream pie. Mary Ann, the last woman off the damaged boat, found the necessary ingredients and made one. She traded it for the radio. However, the radio didn’t work, as its battery had run down. So the Skipper, Gilligan, Thurston and Lovey Howell (the well-dressed couple), Ginger (the movie star), the Professor (the man in the white shirt) and Mary Ann never got off the island. They stayed out too late one night and were turned into zombie villagers. Category:Blog posts